Editorial Workers at Gannett’s Hudson Valley Publications Overwhelmingly Win Union Vote

45 workers win representation by The NewsGuild of New York Following Mail-in Vote at the NLRB

New York — The editorial employees of the Gannett-owned publications in the Hudson Valley --   The Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal and Times and Herald-Record voted 32-4 to be represented by The NewsGuild of New York, TNG-CWA Local 31003 in a National Labor Relations Board election that concluded today.

Union members of the Hudson Valley News Guild voted to form a union to fight for job security and for greater protections against staff, wage and benefit cuts. Job security for media workers has become especially critical as media companies continue to slash newsroom staff and place stakeholder profit over the needs of their workers and communities they serve.

“All of us at the Hudson Valley News Guild should be proud of our win today. We have yet again demonstrated our commitment to each other and our communities to strengthen our newsrooms so that we can provide quality local journalism. We look forward to bargaining our first contract,” said Lana Bellamy, reporter for the Times Herald-Record. 

Poughkeepsie Journal reporter Geoff Wilson added, “Today marks another decisive victory for the Hudson Valley News Guild. We stood together against Gannett when the company tried to break up our unit, and we will continue to fight as we enter bargaining. Our communities and our elected officials have shown overwhelming support for us, and we will work together to make our newsrooms the best they can be.”

“Building worker power in the Gannett chain — the nation’s largest — will strengthen local news and lift standards across the industry and that is good for everyone,” said Susan DeCarava, President of the NewsGuild of New York. “I look forward to Gannett management coming to the table without delay so that we can begin negotiations for a first contract that respects both the voice of these workers and the interests of readers.”

The Hudson Valley News Guild joins thousands of media professionals across the country who have organized with The NewsGuild-CWA to preserve and protect their local outlets. Workers at several Gannett-owned publications — including workers at the South Bend Tribune, the Palm Beach Daily News, and the Arizona Republic — have organized to fight for their newsrooms.  The Hudson Valley News Guild, following the Record Guild and the Atlantic DOT Guild, is the third Gannett unit in the region to organize with TheNewsGuild of New York this year.

The NewsGuild of New York filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge earlier this summer against the company after managers attempted to interfere with the rights of digital producers to organize in Gannett’s Atlantic Digital Optimization Team.  

The NY Guild’s organizing push at Gannett includes:

• On May 7, workers at The Bergen Record, The New Jersey Herald, and The Daily Record voted in favor of joining the NewsGuild of New York. The unit represents 85 media workers at the three publications. Website: https://www.therecordguild.com/
  
  
• On July 14, workers at The Journal News, Times Herald-Record, and Poughkeepsie Journal filed for a union election. The group represents 45 workers and includes the Poughkeepsie Journal, the oldest newspaper in New York State and the 2nd-oldest in the nation. Website: https://hudsonvalleynewsguild.org/
  
  
• On Aug. 11, workers at the Atlantic Digital Optimization Team (DOT) won a union election at the NLRB. The 21 staffers at The Atlantic DOT Guild work across a five-state region that comprises 37 websites in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. They announced they were forming a union with the NewsGuild of New York Local 31003 in early June.  Website: https://www.atlanticdotguild.org/
• On Aug. 19, workers at the Asbury Park Press and Courier News/Home News Tribune APP-MCJ Guild announced that they had formed a union and filed for a union election with the NLRB. More than 70 percent of eligible employees signed on to a public mission statement supporting their union. The unit includes 45 media workers at three publications in New Jersey. Website: APP-MCJ Guildhttps://appmcjguild.com/

ABOUT THE NEWSGUILD OF NEW YORK

The NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America, is a labor union representing nearly 4,000 media professionals and other employees at New York area news organizations, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Thomson Reuters, The Nation, BuzzFeed News, TIME, PEOPLE, Wirecutter, and The Daily Beast. The NewsGuild of New York advocates for journalists to have a voice in the newsroom, for press freedom, for inclusive and diverse workplaces, and for just cause, no exceptions, for all media professionals.

Sept. 17, 2021
###